Saturday, December 15, 2007
and im back...
with a mini out-break on my face, some nasty looking insect bites on my arms, a terrible sleep debt, new depth of affections for my bed and toilet [toilet bowl included], new friends, alot of new knowledge, new awareness and a new desire to have a tender heart.
i went for AnnTIC [vcf's annual teach-in camp] with some apprehensions. i do know enough vcfers but im not close to nearly all of those who were going. i dun need lots of friends to get by but of course the possibility of feeling a little lonely is kinda sad lah. but thank God that my group leader was a friend-of-a-friend:) but i was excited abt what i could learn during the camp seeing that many people have told me good things regarding it. in a certain sense, i have felt myself lacking in this area for a while.
and im back feeling rather tired but full of lessons/thoughts/challenges. and full of thanksgiving
-the Word-
the teaching was really intensive but great. we did an expository study of the book of Amos and i attended the IBS [inductive bible study] on the epistles where we focused on Philippians. plus i signed up for 2 workshops - intellectual property and emotions in christianity.
1. Amos Study: the speaker was very good. It was a super detailed study of the book and all the prophecies and judgements inside. the 5 theme talks really brought home the need for christians to stand for social justice and reject complacency. personally for myself, i guess studying geography exposes me to quite alot of social issues and im now convicted that i need to do something about this knowledge. what specifically im not sure yet, but i'll think of something practical.
2. IBS sessions: it was nearly ibs overload with 4 3-hour long sessions. we covered 2 chapters only but it was very insightful. hard work though cos the approach is rather tedious but i guess the trainers had to drill all that into us. my small group was pretty good too:)
3. workshops: i really enjoyed them and left with more questions for myself at the end of both. i went for both workshops for very different reasons and i guess by and large im satisifed with the material shared by the facilitators. IP workshop was really funny cos of all the erm..funny people who were inside:) the emotions one really made me think about alot of issues regarding myself. perhaps more on this next time.
-the fellowship-
i had a wonderful group and its really God's hand that put us together. i enjoyed my group and i think we had very fruitful sharing/reflections sessions. as a group we had a really strong sense of place [we sat at the same table for EVERY meal] and a healthy sense of humour. i guess what helped was that everyone was pretty open while sharing. i really pray that we can keep these friendships. really thank God for S who was a good group leader and N for performing the job of a BSL [bible study leader] very well:)
the group members:)
J: a really nice friend i know from before but we aren't close. on the 3rd day we had an hour of Silence and Solitude; first a personal time then a "senior" had to look for a "junior" to pray with. J asked if i wanted to do it with her and so we went behind the staircase and sat there - in full view of everyone actually but o well..heh. we ended up talking for a really long time about a lot of things before praying. we didnt really manage to talk much more during the rest of the camp but that was a nice time.
HM: my group member. i never knew her before the camp but well she is friendly and has a good load of wisdom. we didnt really talk lots during the camp cos everyone has other people to talk to i guess. we were supposed to talk on the last night but due to some bad luck it didnt materialise. but we made it up on the last day when we really talked [as in shared] on the bus ride back and for all of lunch plus 2 rounds around causeway point. i think we amazed each other at what we talked about.
E: she is the staffworker from ntu's cf. usually speakers/staff workers/workshop speakers "float" around the group for meals and reflections but our group "adopted" her into our group. so she joined us for everything. she is an interesting character who brought much adult insights into the discussion. and she really has a heart for young people - stayed up to 2 plus counselling one of my group members who had some issues.
-random things that are worth remembering-
the nice 10 course dinner on the last night that materialised because of an extremely frugal camp treasurer. the ramly burgers that L went out to buy for the entire camp [100+ people] the super fast baths i took cos i didnt like the toilets. the ultimate frisbee session in which so many of us skidded and fell cos of the mud. the rain and cool/cold weather. the exco-time sessions, one of which had vcf put through a mock trial [a sobering experience]. the crossing of the causeway a la bus 170 style WITH our heavy bags. the dinning "shed" where we had our meals and discussions/reflections. our group's unstereotypical med student.
i really enjoyed anntic. im no social butterfly so i cant say i made alot of friends but i did make good ones. i really hope that we can somehow continue the friendships but i know its really hard. the preaching and teachings really was good and challenging. by God's grace i'll go again next year:)
